Remember, this link up will run throughout the month of August with the hostesses favorites featured at the end of the month, so you have PLENTY of time to find some upcycled inspiration and join the challenge!

Check back often for new ideas and fun crafts to try and link up your own! If you want to host with us, we'd love to add you to the team, so just let us know! Grab our button and spread the challenge!

Friday, July 24, 2015

Thrift shopping. I was supposed to get mulch. But on the way, I remembered a buffalo I saw last week and again earlier this week.

I had a crush on him. So I stopped at the thrift shop to find that he was still there... phew!! And luck has it he was a blue ticket and blue was ... half off! I love shades of blue and now even more so.
( huuuge smile!)

I also went in just real quick (really fast, because I'm supposed to do other things... rolling eyes) to scan racks for shower curtains and sheets to paint and make all awesome like for back drops. And some umbrellas to paint white... inside and out.

Why? Can you tell my photos and props are much better than when I was a new blogger last year? I'm learning some photography tricks to improve my blog. The sheets and shower curtains can be hung up behind photo subjects and the white umbrellas bounce the light I need for better photos.

But today... "I got none." I know I can get dollar store umbrellas, so it's not a biggie. I'll just keep a hawk eye out for the large flat sheets. However, there were some large drapes... but not what I was looking for in colors or designs and painting over them just isn't ideal. And... the price of $7.99 per panel... pass... other places like "box stores" have better choices that are new on the shelves. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

But hey, there are always other things available like the buffalo I really didn't need... and just in time before my phone to ran out of space for more photos.

I spy lamps. I went through them and snagged one for the work bench.

This is called "quick scan". You bounce around the best shelves and look from left to right, top to bottom.

I spy some red, white and blue cardboard star boxes. Nah... But I do need some clock parts ...passed on them too because they were too pricey. So I kept moving.

Silver plated stuff... nice. But none of it is needed right now.

Wait... look what's in the silverware box... a pretty grape spoon! Yup, I'll take that for forty-nine cents! It will make a nice ring! Or key ring!

Ha! An outhouse toilet tissue holder! Pass, but I do like those galvanized containers! Perfect for the workshop. They will add to the industrial look I'm doing.

I ran out of space on my phone camera and it was time to lickety split anyway. So I took my treasures and went back to the mulch chore.

Then went through my scores of the day.

So I got this awesome HGTV t shirt for working around the yard... But it's a large and a crew neck. So I redesigned it into a tank top.

By cutting the sleeves off,

and the crew neck snipped away into a scoop neck

it's now a tank top.

To make it look cute, I used some of the sleeve material to add little ties at the shoulders.

And here are the rest of the goodies of the day... brought home safely.

The galvanized containers for the shop will probably get stenciled with labels. Great for storing some furniture hardware.

The lamp will get painted black and then distressed. It will make a great task light on the workbench.

The leather belt was $3.99, but it was a blue ticket and half off, so I put it in my belt stash.
The pretty spoon will be a ring or key ring.

And that buffalo... he will stand proud in the western bedroom. He is my prize of the week for doing all that mulch work. (wink)

How is your thrift shopping going? What did you score? I want to see and hear about it!

It's another trash to treasure.
This curb rescue looked amazing at first. I thought it was a great den chair.
But after getting it home and giving it the look-over, it was inevitable that major work needed to be done to it.

It was missing parts and it had a gazillion nail tacks.
Two cups worth of nail tacks.
Take me a week to remove kind of nail tacks.
Just way too many of them.

Because one arm support was missing and the other side was cracked and falling loose, I decided to remove them altogether. A poor design structure meant it may continue unless I used steel straps. That was not happening on this one because I wasn't sure where it was going at the moment.

So I hacked off the arms.

Then I removed all of the old upholstery.
Glued on upholstery. Another painstaking undo.

Then a nice coat of pearl wax.
It gives just the right amount of sheen.

The fabric is a beautiful yellow and blue toile print.
My friend Millie from "2 Crochet Hooks" gave it to me.
She thought I could put some fabrics to good use and sent them over my way. (Love her!)
This was my favorite of the bunch and I couldn't wait to use it on the right piece.

It was saved for this chair... with just enough to do it.
Including the piping (I sewed the cloth over pvc clothesline, as I've done before here.)
To save a lot of photos, space and boredom, I won't repeat how to reupholster again, as I've many of them here on the blog. But I'll tell you I did the seat first (always the easiest). Then the the tricky back rest.

So here we are.

Meet Florence.

The whole time I worked on the fabric, it reminded me of my grandmother, Florence. She loved her linens and blues and yellows... and toile. She loved little blue glass hens and sported them about her home. And she was always ironing. Always. Not just hers, but for others too. Her dining room table would be heaped with freshly laundered, ironed and folded linens.

I can still smell it.

I remember her bedroom and the little knick knacks that made her house a home. If she were here today, this chair would be hers.

So this is my Florence chair.

She would have pressed this fabric to perfection for me and made doilies to go with it.

The midnight blue looks amazing.

I can just envision my grandmother sitting here with her apron on and a cup of tea at the table... just for a short break. She was like that when she visited. Then she would probably jump up to go back to work because she was a baker and had bread orders almost daily. That and domestic services. Sewing, laundering and the like. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if she would make an apron to match this chair. She was like that too. Very busy and creative.

I know she would have loved this.

It's got her name all over it.

(big smile)

I hope I inspired some yellow and blue toile to fit in a space for you. It's so bright and cheery!

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